Old school shoemaking business opens in the heart of modern downtown Flint

FLINT, MI – Flint’s downtown is slowly taking a turn toward a modern look and feel.

Sleek, newly remodeled building fronts, loft-style apartments, upscale eateries and a scene that caters to collegians define the South Saginaw corridor.

But among the new-age feel, the downtown is peppered with a touch of old – a touch of nostalgia.

You can go to Mad Hatter and get a shoe shine from Bob Kittle, the store’s owner. You can enjoy a smoke with Don Spaniola at Paul’s Pipe Shop or a pre-prohibition cocktail from one of the bartenders at The Torch.

You can also get a straight razor shave – complete with hot foam, a hot towel and a quick face massage – from Zac Minock at Consolidated Barbershop, the 50’s throwback shop in Buckham Alley that’s noticeable by the candy cane barber’s pole outside its front door.

Adding to the throwback culture is Timothy Goodrich.

Goodrich took up the art of shoemaking in 2012, and opened up his own custom shoemaking and shoe repair shop at 522 S. Saginaw St. after a nine-month apprenticeship with long-time custom shoemaker Perry Ercolino in Doylestown, Pa.

“In people my age and younger, there’s this appreciation for how things used to be done – when they were done in a thorough way, made well and done well, not cheap and quick,” Goodrich said.

“I have a passion for making and creating things. Where I am right now is with this high-end, custom-made type of product. It’s not a cheap or a fast process.”

Timothy Goodrich Custom Shoe & Repair was born when Goodrich began looking for a small business to start in the city as a way to supplement his income while working part-time at a local church in 2009.

Goodrich’s original idea was to start The Flint Crepe Co. cart with Robb Klaty. He said he enjoyed the idea of bringing this innovative, old European dish to a city like Flint but decided to leave just before The Crepe Co. opened its store front.

He said he wanted to get into something different – slower paced, perhaps – and do something that he said would take him longer than a day or so to learn how to do.

“I enjoy doing the shoe repair because it allows me to make connections with the average Joe – maybe the type of person who wouldn’t be in line to buy a pair of custom-made shoes,” Goodrich said.

“For the shoemaking part of it, my clients would typically be doctors or lawyers in the area – typically professionals who have the income to spend more than a couple hundred dollars on a pair of high-end shoes.”

Each pair of custom shoes takes Goodrich about 50 hours to make and he uses calf skin and cordovan leathers. He starts the shoemaking process by measuring and taking dimensions of his client’s feet before making outlines and wooden frames for which to shape the shoe. From there he cuts out patterns based on the design that he and the client have chosen for the shoe.

“To me, shoes are a complicated thing and I wanted to do something that was challenging. It’s not the sort of thing that you’re going to perfect soon and this is something that’s really, really deep and old school, and something that I love doing,” he said.

“I don’t want for this to be just a business. I’m hoping to be a presence in the city of Flint that can, in some small way, add to making the city a little bit more of a desirable place to live and work and visit.”

Goodrich said he envisions a lot of throwback style and specialty businesses across the city and that it would be something that could redefine the area.

“Let’s do something that nobody would think of having in Flint. People look at the crime statistics and make certain judgments, but when I started this I was thinking: ‘What’s the next thing I could do that would be awesome where people wouldn’t expect to see in Flint?’

“People don’t expect custom shoes in Flint. You could probably count on two hands the number of people that are doing it for a living in the country, so I like the idea of this old, high-end craft that is this long-gone thing, and doing it in Flint. I hope in some small way that that changes the expectations of what Flint is and what Flint can be about.”

Goodrich also said that he’s interested in teaching people the craft. He said that people who want to learn the art of shoemaking can stop by his shop – through its Buckham Alley entrance – if they’re interested in attending a class. Eventually, he said, he’s going to host a workshop.

“I want to encourage people to take chances. Instead of expecting a big company to come here or waiting for some job to offer you a huge salary to work for them, just decide on your own that you’re going to open up your own little shop or pursue a craft that you love and turn it into your business,” he said.

“While Flint is known, unfortunately, for its crime statistics, it would be awesome if Flint was known as this place where you go to get like the most amazing craft food experience or custom shoe or custom clothes or any number of things like that. I want to encourage other people to hopefully plow in that direction together. I love messing with people’s expectations. Let’s reinvent ourselves.”